my week in pictures 46

monday 3/24 - sunday 3/30

Last week ended up being a pretty eventful one involving most notably decorating my boss's office in honor of his first little one, and a very last minute trip to the valley which may have resulted in a new car...

[[ the gym at brasada does not have too shabby of a view. soaking up trace amounts of sunshine in our backyard. decorating the boss man's office. ]]

We headed to rainy Salem Thursday night around 8 (it was kind of a last minute decision). We met Tony at F-Stop and then spent the night at his place. In the morning we both did a little work before driving an hour south to Eugene in the hopes that we would be leaving with a new ride. Mission accomplished, 6 hours and a test drive later. While we were there Pat told me I had to act like I wasn't that excited, so I doodled while he negotiated. Man I hate car shopping! (I will do a more detailed post about the car and all tomorrow).

[[ rainy drive to eugene. the two cars in the running. my doodles. ]]

Once we were off the lot we drove to Corvallis to meet up with some friends for dinner and then sleep over at Nate and Alicia's place. Saturday morning we played with their little baby girl Abby for a little while before grabbing a delicious breakfast in Albany. Shortly after we said goodbye and took our car over the pass for the first time to enjoy the little bit we had left of our weekend.

[[ block 15 for dinner. delicious breakfast. taking our new car over the pass for the first time. ]]

memphis may fire - or - that one time i got kicked in the face and didn't even really mind

Sorry, this is officially the longest concert post ever... 


Last Thursday me and Pat both left work early, headed to Salem to grab Tony, and then went up to Portland for the Memphis May Fire concert at The Wonder Ballroom. It was definitely one of the best shows I have been to in a while.

A few years ago we saw Memphis at a tiny little venue in Portland called Branx, I mean so Tiny that there wasn't really much of a stage, and after the show the band walked down and we were just talking to them, no big deal. Granted they weren't really that big yet, so the setting was fitting. This time they were headlining in a lineup with four other bands.

When we got to Portland we went straight down to Bunk Bar to grab beers and sandwiches for dinner. This is a newer venue, and one of the best qualities is that Bunk Bar is conveniently right below. Since we got a pretty late start we unfortunately missed the first opener while we were eating. Eventually we made our way inside and up to the balcony area to watch the rest of the opening bands.

One of the best things about being 21 at a show is having the choice between the balcony and the floor, both of which are completely different experiences. Being down on the floor is a gritty, sweaty, in your face experience, while the balcony allows you to sit back, relax, and take it all in. Both have their upsides.

a few of the opening bands

[[ hands like houses. the world alive. ]]

When Memphis came on me and Tony decided to head down to the floor for their full set, giving me the chance to finally try crowd surfing (which is on my 30 before 30 list). In a matter of minutes we had made our way to the very front of the crowd, just in time for Memphis to come on. I think within the first song I was up in the air being carried forward to the stage. Unlike any show I have EVER been to, there was NO security blockade between the front of the stage and the crowd, so when I was launched forward I actually had a chance to get on the stage with the band take it all in and then leap back in to the crowd. It was awesome! I couldn't have picked a better show to cross that goal off of my list at.

Also, since Pat was still on the balcony with all of our stuff, he actually got pictures of me! Added bonus! The only downside was the guy that came down on top of me, with his foot, in my face. By the time I popped back up I had a sweet lump of my forehead and a gash on my nose, but I didn't even care. We stayed down on the floor for the rest of the show screaming lyrics back at the stage with all of the other spectators (many of which reminded me of my high school self). Once the concert was over, and me and Tony reconnected with Pat, I got a chance to take a look at myself in the mirror... it was not pretty... but it was worth it. It's not like I haven't come away from concerts with battle wounds before, they are just usually reserved for my arms and legs (which are also bruised incidentally).

Luckily the gash wasn't that bad and stopped bleeding eventually, so I didn't need stitches or anything. Even more luckily my nose wasn't broken. Another added bonus is that my glasses, which I always wear to work, almost perfectly cover the gash and bruise on my nose, while makeup handles the rest. And no, I was not wearing said glasses at the time of the incident, they would have definitely been broken.

Alright, enough of that, time for the rest of the pictures!

memphis from pat's vantage point

[[ all the awesome pics pat took from the balcony. ]]

my crowd surfing experience

[[ me!! ]]

me & tony's vantage point

(I had to borrow a few of these)

[[ tony's pics. more pics from the floor. ]]

and of course... my battle wounds...

(and leftover makeup/not enough makeup)

[[ my ugly mug: lump/bruise on my forehead, cut on my nose, bruises all over. ]]

my week in pictures 45

monday 3/17 - sunday 3/23

My week consisted of work, car shopping, a ton of driving, Tony, Bunk Bar, an awesome concert, getting kicked in the face, saying goodbye to Rory at BBC, putting a ton of work in to our backyard, sunshine, sushi, sake, Velvet, Crux, and firing up the grill for the first time this year. I will get in to a lot more detail about both the concert and getting kicked in the face tomorrow.

[[ bathroom wisdom. ballroom art. concert preview pics. spring in salem. bbc with rory. sushi date night. the yard getting ready for spring! ]]

my week in pictures 44

monday 3/10 - sunday 3/16

I don't have too many pictures from last week, just a few tidbits, so here is a brief summary: trivia, beer, gym, pretty trees and warmer afternoons, st. patrick's day, barrio's 2nd anniversary party, coloring contest, mustaches, tacos, and a pet turkey.

Oh, and about the mustaches... That was a thing Barrio was doing, so I let my coworker Amy paint a mini Yosemite Sam on me and wore it around for the rest of the day... even when we left and headed over to 10 Barrel. I got more than a few funny looks and comments. "I mustache you a question." for example.

[[ trivia night. soaking in some saturday sunshine at worthy. still trying to be healthy. pretty trees starting to bloom! coloring contest! delicious tacos. mustaches galore! who randomly has a pet turkey on the street?! ]]

tool

On Thursday 3/6 me and Pat headed to Portland to see TOOL at The Rose Garden (Moda Center). This has been one of Pat's bucket list bands for a long time, so he was REALLY excited about it. The show was pretty nuts... For starters, I have never been to a concert in such a large indoor venue before... I am more used to grungy little ones where you and the stage are right there, aside of course from Warped Tours of yesteryear, but even so, this was nutty. Also Tool is huge, so just to be able to actually see them was pretty sweet.

The concert was definitely interesting, and pretty much what was to be expected. For example, insane visuals and lights flashing everywhere... think major sensory overload. In terms of the actual performance, they sort of came on stage, said "What's up?", started playing a well constructed set of some of their most popular songs, jamming in the middle so that it was unclear at first when the next one began, finished their set, got off the stage, and that was it. A bit impersonal for around $100 a ticket, but I guess we should have known since we are talking about a band who's frontman has been known to be a major oddball who shies away from the spotlight as much as possible. So much so in fact, that this was their first tour in seven years. Speaking of Maynard... While the band members were illuminated, he stayed behind in the shadows silhouetted throughout the entire show. I think I got a glimpse of a bleach blonde mohawk once or twice, but that was about it.

I will say I wish they could have played a longer set... with no openers or anything it seemed like an extremely quick concert and I think we were all left wanting a bit more. BUT All in all I am super glad that we got to experience such a hugely influential band in what will probably be one of their last US tours ever.

Cue the pictures! 

[[ crazy visuals from the tool concert. ]]